Careless
by Requisition
Summary: [EDITED 6.12.o7][Oneshot] Their friend was gone. The Keybearer dead. It was only a matter of time before the worlds crumbled, because after all... they were careless. And their light left them.


_Edited 6-12-o7 _

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**First one-shot. For xRebbiex, one of the most fun-to-talk-to friends I have, and Brandi, because I said so and she's awesome.**

_WARNINGS: Character death, Leon blushing, and some... mild gore. I think that's it._

**Disclaimer: **If I owned KH I wouldn't kill Sora. But it would have lots of sugar and caffeine in it.

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Careless

They were all running - Yuffie, Aerith, Leon, Cloud, and Riku. Donald, Goofy, King Mickey and Kairi as well. They were running away from the Heartless, back to where they could re-stock their supplies, and gather any needed strength. Or so most thought. The reason they were running away from the Heartless had nothing to do with needing rest, in fact they could destroy all of the various monsters chasing after them if they wanted to. No, they were running to the large castle, Hallow Bastion, hoping they weren't too late.

_ **Flash Back**  
_

_People crowded the center of the small town-like place they had built. Built on the world that held the castle known as Hallow Bastion, actually. There was a huge party being held for all civilians, celebrating the sealing of three new worlds, by the one and only Key bearer. _

_Sora had come back to Hallow Bastion with Goofy and Donald to inform Leon and the others of the sealing of three new worlds. But they were surprised to find Kairi, Riku, and the King there. _

_Apparently Leon and Cloud caught drift of Sora and co. coming back, and decided to surprise them. Or it was Yuffie and Aerith that came up with the idea. Leon and Cloud weren't as... ecstatic about the idea._

_Sora immediately ran over to Riku and Kairi... pulling them into suffocating hugs._

_"Sora... c-can't... breath..." Riku managed to choke out. "Heh ... uh, my bad." Sora said while rubbing the back of his head after releasing his two friends." He looked over to see Goofy doing the same to Donald and the King._

_"Hey, why are you guys here? Weren't you back on the Islands?" Sora asked them, a confused look on his face._

_Goofy, who overheard Sora, remembered that the King was supposed to be at the castle. "Uh, King Mickey, aren't ya supposed ta be at the castle with Queen Minnie?" He asked, looking inquisitively at the over-sized mouse. _

_"Well, Yuffie told us you would be back, and we decided that we should hold a festival to celebrate the fact that we're _this_ much closer to getting rid of the Heartless, and most of the darkness looming over the other worlds." Mickey replied. Kairi and Riku nodded in agreement._

_"And the festival starts in an hour, SO WE SHOULD GET GOING!" Yuffie, who was apparently on sugar high, yelled._

_Kairi giggled while Leon, along with Cloud, groaned, hearing the hyper-ness in their friends' voice. "If this doesn't kill me," Cloud started to say to Leon. "I'M gonna kill YOU for letting your girlfriend come up with this idea." Leon slightly blushed at the 'girlfriend' comment, but regained his composure quickly. He turned away, grumbling slightly._

_ **An hour later**  
_

_Everybody met at the festival, having earlier decided to split up to do their own things for an hour and agreeing to meet at the entrance of the festival. Sora, who had been with Kairi and Riku talking about the island and when they were younger, let a wide smile form on his face as he saw the colorful and active atmosphere._

_"Come on Kairi, Let's go to some of the game booths!" Sora excitedly said. He grabbed Kairi's wrist, and both ran over to the nearest game. Riku decided to spend time with King Mickey, since he had already spent his free time with Sora and Kairi. _

_A certain duck wasn't as excited, and decided to voice his opinion, "Well, this is troubleso-" he started, but was interrupted as Goofy patted him on the back and told him to cheer up. _

_Riku and the King walked off to one of the weapons shops, with Goofy dragging Donald to one of the small singing stages in the far part of the festival. _

_"Cloud, would you like to come with me to the flower booth over there? I'd like to buy a couple of those large, red ones..." Aerith asked, smiling up at the blond haired man. Cloud let a small smile grace his face, but it disappeared as soon as it came. He plastered a fake bored look on and quietly followed Aerith over to the aforementioned shop._

_"Oh Leeeoon," Yuffie started, making the leather-clad man look over at her. He immediately decided he did _not_ like the look on her face. "How about we go over to the fighting arena they have set up over there." The self-proclaimed ninja stated more than asked. Leon smirked, "Still trying to beat me?" he asked lazily, glancing over at the weapon littered area. "Well, why not." he said after a moment of silence. Yuffie let out a cheer, grabbed Leon's hand, and ran off to hopefully best him in a fight._

_All thoughts of Heartless attacks and the many dangers that could possibly happen were the last things on anyones mind._

_ **Two hours later**  
_

_After everyone had been around the festival - Kairi and Aerith sporting some plushies, and Yuffie sporting a smirk - they got something to eat. That's when Sora remembered the Keyblade's many key chains were back at the castle. He excused himself and ran off._

_Fifteen minutes later, they started to get worried. After another three minutes, people were running past them, and screaming was heard from some. Heartless started appearing and a black, smoke-like substance erupted in front of the small group. _

_With their weapons drawn, and Kairi and Aerith behind Riku and Cloud, a figure was seen through the smoke._

_"Your much too careless, even if celebrating," The figure started, "You should always be prepared, it's common sense when dealing with Heartless. Your friend was careless too. He was too busy to notice the things around him, and as one of the Keyblade masters, he should have been more careful. Your light will be gone. Your too late." The figure started laughing, "And it's because you forgot about the dangers, the darkness looming around every corner, ready to jump out and finish those foolish enough to wander alone."_

_With that, and one more laugh, the figure vanished._

_"Light?" Cloud questioned. _

_"He couldn't have meant... Sora, could he?" everyone turned to Kairi, "He _was_ talking about Sora - we need to get to the castle!" With that, and hearts racing with fear of the cloaked man's words holding true, they ran off towards where their friend would hopefully be._

_ **End Flash back **  
_

That's where they were now, running to the castle. Riku was the first to barge in. "Split up and find him, he shouldn't be too hard to-" the silver haired teen stopped his sentence short when he spotted the motionless figure in the middle of the large room.

A scream rang out, echoing slightly, as Kairi and Aerith were attacked by Heartless from behind. The rest of the small group tore their gazes away from the figure and resumed fighting the monsters behind them.

_ **After the fight**  
_

After the rather long battle, Aerith had to heal Cloud's wounds, one of which being a large gash a Neo Heartless landed on his side, and had to heal Kairi who got mixed up in the crossfire. She needed help walking, but Riku took care of that.

Goofy's shield got knocked out of his grasp by a Blue Rhapsody Heartless, as he was protecting the motionless body behind him, and got numerous ice wounds. Aerith was only able to help with the healing process, and it left Goofy limping.

At least they had managed to stop the unusually large Heartless hoard without someone being fatally wounded. The Heartless wouldn't be back for quite awhile.

The group gathered around the figure in the middle of the room, laying in a large pool of blood, fearing the worst.

Kairi was crying silently, as was everyone else, save for Leon and Cloud – both of their eyes were turning slightly red from holding the tears back.

The very weapon that had been used to fight against darkness was driven into the figures' stomach, blood still seeping out slightly. Dark cold blue eyes stared up in horror. The only emotion held within them was surprise, and the sense of death. The arm favored when using the Keyblade was obviously broken, part of it jutting out in a way that would make most cringe. A crimson line led from both corners of the mouth, reaching to the chin and dripping down the neck, only to fall to the ground to form a small puddle.

Chuckling was heard, "He's gone now, and the darkness will rule, you were all careless, now your all to blame." The figure appeared over to the side.

"Even though you are all very much strong, and capable of killing the Heartless, the Key bearer is the only one who can seal the doors."

Getting angrier and angrier by the second, Riku snapped, "Why did you have to kill him the way you did? Why did you kill him at all!" Riku yelled "He didn't even have us to help him..." the teen trailed off.

"And that's your fault." The figure said, voice void of emotion.

"The right thing would have been to send someone with him, for especially on this planet, wandering alone is not a smart thing to do," The words held truth, but none were willing to except it. "The darkness will rule, the worlds will die, this is known as fate. And you just sealed yours." With that, the figure yet again disappeared, hopefully for good.

"He's gone." Kairi stated, her voice dead and eyes sad. "They both are."

Their friend was gone. One of the Key bearers dead. It was only a matter of time before the worlds crumbled, because after all... they were careless. And their light left them.

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End


End file.
